Bedclothes clamp



Aug. 5, 1952 M. MARCHESE BEDCLOTHES CLAMP Filed Oct. 12, 1949 INVENTOR. MARY MARCHESE 1% MfUF/VEY trated in full lines.

Patented Aug. 5, 1952 I STATES OFFICE BEDCLOTHES- CLAMP Mary 'March'ese, New York, TN'. Y. t 'Applica'tionioctober' 12, 1949., ;seria1 No.Q-120;9is

1, This invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments for sleeping beds adapted when properly placed on a bed adjacent to its footboard for functioning as a bed-clothes clamp after the bed has been made up by laying, smoothing out and tucking the bed clothes down in the usual way between the inner side ofthe footboard and the adjacent end of the mattress; and, more particularly, the aim is to provide an improved such appliance, for the purpose stated, which may be inexpensively made and so offered at a very small selling price for a pair of such appliances to be used in connection withthe bed-clothes of a particular bed. i A further object is to provide an improved bed-clothes clamping means asv above, which may be easily and .quickly attached to a bedspringframe or the like atthe end of the latter at the foot of the bed; which means is adapted to have always a dependable anchoring action on the marginal portions of the bed-clothes at the foot of. the bed; and which means, further, is free of objection complexities and bulk and, in the latter connection, so formed and arranged thatfwhen installed on the bed, its presence is not observableafter the bed has been madeup. For. further comprehension of theinvention,

and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth. a

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective showing one of two like appliances pursuant to the invention and constituting one new improved embodiment thereof.

Fig. 2 shows, in side elevation,'partially broken away and partially in section, *a bed of a conventifonal type and incorporating a headboard, a footboard, a spring and mattress supporting frame; coupling means between the ends-of said frame and 'said'headboard and footboard, and one of the appliances of Fig.- 1 attached to the usual depending transverseflange of said frame at the-end of the latter adjacent'tothefootboard, with the bed-clothes-indicated in dot and dash lines; the portiorrof said frame'adjacent 't said appliancein this view being 'delineated substantially as indicated bythe line "2-2 of Fig. 3; r

Fig. S-is a top-plan view, centrally broken away, frag-mentafily showing the footboard and the adjacent bed parts, with-here the bed-clothes illus- 3"Claims. (c1; a r-eras Fig. 4, also'1a .sec'tiononsaid line 2 2,. is a very much enlarged .repl'ica. -of the parts, seen at the left in Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a view sim'ilar to Fig. 1;butjil1ustratmg a modi'fication.

i Fig. 6 is .a central vertical'secition, taken on the ime-c. aor.m $51; but with here indicated, further', fin dot and dash lines,, a,portion of the footboard, an adjacent end. jof'the bedeclothes, and an auxiliary memberfor use as. will become clear later. V

Fig. J7 is .ahv iew. similar to. Fig. '6, but showing said auxiliary member "fully in place, instead of merely 'in.course oflbeing'applied asinFig. 6. Fig. 8 is a perspective -view of said: auxiliary member, detached; j

Referring now to the'drawings more in detail, by reference numerals, and firstto'Figs. 14, a bed and its additional equipment are substantially schematically indicated with' the bed incorporating afootboardld, a headboard IS, the

aforesaid frame l1; a means I8"for rigidly connecting an end of thesaidframeto the footboard, a means I9 for similarly-connecting the opposite end of said frame'to'the headboard I 6, a box spring llliand'inthe aggregate aset of bedclothes v2 I.

' The presence of armattress atop the structure '28 is not indicated;"tosimplify thed-rawings; and also for the. reason that sometimes'such a mattress forms a part of the element '20.

Asis well-knownya frame such as the frame-l1 is made of angle *irons so-tha-t, at oppositeends of said frameoneoftheffiangespf a length of angle irondepends as indicated at 2 2. It-has already been stated that the new appliance incorporates a pairof structures identical with that shown in Fig. 1. These two structureswill benoted, respectively; at '2'3 'and -2-4=inFig. 3; "and the one-of them 'illustratedinFig. I -may be taken to bathe structur'eiE-S. A detailed description of one such structure," as the stru'cture 23, therefore, will su ffice.

' This structure; itw ill be noted, is of one-piece integral kindpincluding a lower portion '25 U- shaped in 'cross-section 'so' as to present a-rather thin frontal bill -0'r race-plate 26 "and a" rather thicker -frear portion- '21 upstanding to establish at its topa :shelf orledge '28; said structure being further upwardly extended, above saids'helf, as

a thinner mainpanel 29.-

It beingobserved that tlie topof said bill 2-8 is below "the level of: the shelf 28, so that when the stru'cture 23 i secured-"to the-frame IT 'as shown in Fig;- 2} said shelf' 28 will be; substan tially-in' the's ame-plane as the top'pl'sa-l'd frame,

like structures 23 and 24 arranged, for instance,

as shown in Fig. 3.

The provision of the shoulder or shelf 28 is properly to proportion the thicknesses of the portions 27 and 29, so that, with the frame I! positioned against accidental shift relative to the headboard and footboard, said shelf, as already stated and as shown in Fig. 4 most clearly, will be at the top level of said frame. time, there ispresented a space, yet a properly narrowed space, between the box-spring and the panel 29, into which the adjacent ends of the bed-clothes may be forced, readily, yet so tightly that the clamping action intended to be performed by said panel 29 and by the corresponding panel of the structure 24,to prevent the bedclothes from being accidentally disengaged from their anchorage at the foot .of the bed, is performed in an ideal manner.

Referring to the modification shown in Figs. 5-8, one of the two like appliances here proposed to be used, iffldesired in substitution for the structures I23 and, 24, isas a whole designated 23; The parts. of the appliance 23 to which are applied reference numerals 25 through 28 and 30 and 31 with primes added correspond, respectively, to the partsto which have been applied the same reference numerals without primes. I Also, in connection with the illustrative showing of this modification, there are delineated in dot and dash, and fragmentarily, a bed footboard I5, bed-clothes l6, and a flange 22', corresponding to the flange 22.

Here, however, in lieu of the panel 29, said appliance 23 integrally includes above the shelf 28' an upstanding skeletal leaf 32 having a clearthrough substantially rectangular vertically elongate opening 33, said opening topped by a barlike portion 34. V

This portion 34 is incut at its side adjacent to the shelf 28', for receiving therein the upper plane end of a clamping member 35, in such manner that the outer face of said member 35, where it is secured to the leaf 32 at its said portion 34 as by way of a pair of rivets 36, will be fiush with the face of the leaf 32 to contact the tucked down bed-clothes.

Said member 35, desirably made of thin sprin steel or some similarly resilient suitable sheet material, is transversely convoluted, as shown, along the major portion of its length and down as far as a tailing terminal portion 31 of the said member 35. Normally, this portion 31 slidably rests as shown in Fig. 6 against a ramped surface 38 just below the bottom ofthe opening :33 and at the rear side of a low transverse wall the top of which marks the bottom of said opening; and normally, also, the crests of the convolutions or corrugations across the member 35, at the front side of the latter, do not project at all forwardly of thefrontplaneof said opening. v Thesecorrugations; instead, are then housed in a shallow largely. open chamber'39 in back of said opening;

which chamber is closed merelyacross its bottom, at its front by the wall last-named and the At the same remainder of the leaf 32 plus the clamping member 35, and at its two exceedingly narrow sides by rib-like vertical extending projections 4|, 4| rearwardly extended from the opposite sides of the leaf 32.

With a pair of appliances each like the appliances 23 provided, and with there also provided a pair ofauxiliary devices each like the fitment shown and which asa whole is designated 42, a simple and inexpensive combination of parts is afforded, by which the ends of the bedclothes 16' to be tightly fixed at the foot of the bed following making up the bed may be quickly and easily tucked down into their appointed receptor and without any chance of squeezing the bed-makers fingers, but by which, nevertheless, a wholly dependable clamping action may be thereupon and readily accomplished, and by which, further, such usually not present parts as may b observable after the bed is finally made will constitute a decorative addition to the general ensemble rather than otherwise.

Each such device or fitment, as shown in the case of the fitment 42, comprises, it will be observed, a suitably wide, long and longitudinally curved blade 43, an enlarged head 44 and an upper extension 45 in the shape ofa pull-handle of the inverted U type.

After the bed has been made up, with then the parts'substantially as shown in Fig. 6, there is applied, relative to each of the structures 23 and its companion structure near opposite sides of the foot of the bed, one of the fitments 42; first to the extent indicated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 6, and then, by downward thrust on its head 44, to the full extent shown in Fig. 7. Consequent' upon these operations, at each of said structures, the inside surface of the footboard l5 coacts with the convex side of each of the blades 43 and the corresponding blade of the structure corresponding to the structure 23, to bring about the condition illustrated in Fig. 7. Now the clamping member 35 is abnormally distorted, thereby to cause some of its fiutings to exert a powerful but non-injurious grip on the bed-clothes; and the head 44 concealingly overlies the top of the structure 23.

The upstanding handles 45, the presence of which at the foot of the made up bed is not in any way detrimental to the appearance thereof or to the comfort of a sleeper in the bed, are always presented for being grasped to facilitate bodily removal of the fitment 42 and its companion fitment, at any time when the bedclothes are to be changed.

Such fitmentmay be made of metal, as plastic or any other suitable material; and to avoid any chance of it ever marring any part of the'inside face of the headboard, .each fitment may be covered, as indicated at 4B in Fig. 8, with a localized sheathingof cushionymaterial such as a piece of heavy plush suitably. anchored in place as by cementing. 7

The-importance of using the bedclothes clamp is stressed particularly in cases where there is no footboard-or where the mattres is too great a distance away from the footboard.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desired to secure by United States Patent is:

1. An attachment for the purpose stated and for securement to a dependent flange from a frame horizontally extended between the headboard and the footbcard of a bed, said flange at the end of said frame adjacent to said footboard; said attachment incorporating at its bottom a bracket-portion U-shaped in cross-section to provide a space for snugly downwardly receiving said flange, said attachment havin an upstanding frontal bill and in rear of the latter an upstanding main portion of greater thickness than said bill, said attachment further incorporating an upstanding panel in prolongation of said main portion and of less thickness than said main portion, the bottom of said panel having its point of merger with said main portion defined by an upwardly facing shoulder adjacent to said bill, said attachment also carrying means manually aotuable to clamp said bracket-portion to said flange, said panel comprising a skeletal leaf having a clear-through opening, a deformable resilient clamping member attached at one end to said leaf, and an auxiliary fitment having a curved blade for downward insertion between the footboard and said panel with its convex side facing said clamping member and engaging said clamping member at its bottom end to deform said clamping member toward the bedclothes to grip the portion of the bedclothes to be secured against accidental displacement.

2. An attachment for the purpose stated and for securement to a dependent flange from a frame horizontallyextended between the headboard and the footboard of a bed, said flange at the end of said frame adjacent to said footboard'; said attachment incorporating at its bottom a bracket-portion U-shaped in cross-section to provide a space for snugly downwardly receiving said flange, said attachment having an upstandil'lg frontal bill and in rear of the latter an upstanding main portion of greater thickness than said bill, said attachment further incorporating an upstanding panel in prolongation of said main portion and of less thickness than said main portion, the bottom of said panel, having its point of merger with said main portion defined by an upwardly facing shoulder adjacent to said bill, said attachment also carrying means manually actuable to clamp said bracket-portion to said flange, said panel comprising a skeletal leaf having a clear-through opening, a deformable resilient clampin member attached at one end to said leaf, and an auxiliary fitment having a curved blade for downward insertion between the footboard and said panel with its convex side facingsaid clamping member and engaging said clamping member at its bottom end to deform said clamping member toward the bedclothes to grip the portion of the bed-clothes to be secured against accidental displacement, said clamping member being transversely fluted.

3. An attachment for the purpose stated and for securement to a dependent flange from a frame horizontally extended between the headboard and the footboard of a bed, said flange at the end of said frame adjacent to said footboard;

said attachment incorporating at its bottom a bracket-portion U-shaped in cross-section to provide a space for snugly downwardly receiving said flange, said attachment having an upstanding frontal bill and in rear of the latter an upstanding main portion of greater thickness than said bill, said attachment further incorporating an upstanding panel in prolongation of said main portion and of less thickness than said main portion, the bottom of said panel having its point of merger with said main portion defined by an upwardly facing shoulder adjacent to said bill, said attachment also carrying means manually actuable to clamp said bracket-portion to said flange, said panel being in the form of a skeletal leaf presenting a clear-throu h opening, and there being a deformable resilient clamping member attached at one end to said leaf, in combination with an auxiliary fitment shaped for downward insertion in rear of said clamping member and further shaped whereby on full downward insertion of said fitment said clamping member is thereby deformed to grip the portion of the bed-clothes to be secured against accidental displacement, said clamping member being transversely fluted, said fitment including a blade, a head carrying the blade and on said head a pull handle, said blade being curved in the direction of its extension away from said head.

MARY MARCHESE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

